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According to the complaint filed by Heidi Merrill and her co-songwriters, Niclas Lundin, Alex Wong, and Jeff Cohen, any similarity between Carrie Underwood’s “Game On” and their own was far from mere coincidence (via Heitner Legal). Their reasoning? The assistant to Mark Bright, Underwood’s producer, had acknowledged receipt of their submission, and said they wouldn’t proceed with it. As noted in the lawsuit, that suggested to them that Bright, Underwood, and the rest of the team involved in the resulting NFL song had heard Merrill’s track before putting theirs together.
In light of that, when Underwood’s 2018 NFL theme song was released, Merrill, Lundin, Wong, and Cohen believed there was intent behind the similarities. Said similarities went beyond the song title, too. They also cited comparable note and chord progression, among other elements, in the filing. As a result, the songwriters complained that they’d lost out on significant earnings, and sought to go to jury trial against everyone involved for whatever damages the court saw fit.
Speaking to CNN of the situation, Merrill and her team’s lawyer, Sam P. Israel told the outlet that he had no doubts the similarities had been a deliberate, shady move by Underwood and co. “This is a blatant attempt by a celebrity singer to rip off other artists’ work, and it won’t be tolerated,” he told the outlet. As for Underwood, the NFL, and NBC, they didn’t comment on the matter.
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Source: NewsFinale
